Diplomats on bus pelted with rocks in Negev

Unidentified assailants threw rocks at a bus carrying Foreign Ministry officials and ambassadors as it drove near Tel Sheva, just east of Beersheba, Tuesday.

There were no reports of injuries, but the back window of the bus was shattered.

The ambassadors were touring Bedouin communities as part of an annual conference in an effort to become more familiar with the issue.

The government is currently working on a new plan to deal with the issue of unrecognized Bedouin villages after the controversial Prawer Plan was shelved last month. The plan called for Israel to officially recognize and register the vast majority of Bedouin settlements throughout the south, and compensate the residents of 35 unrecognized villages — some 30,000 to 40,000 people — who were to be moved off state-owned land into towns built for them.

The government says it wants to provide services and economic opportunities currently lacking in the Bedouin community.

However, many Bedouin and human rights activists have said they see the plan as a land grab tinged with anti-Arab racism.

Protests against the bill have occasionally turned violent. Fifteen police officers were injured and 40 people were arrested during a violent demonstration that drew over 1,500 people at Hura junction in the Negev in November.